I am having a lot of trouble falling asleep tonight, so I'm posting instead. I will admit it-this chapter is a favorite of mine.

"Who likes mac'n'cheese?" Kayla asked her class enthusiastically.

The kids squealed, and parents clapped. In the background, the door slammed opened.

"I like it, I like it!"

Kayla's eyes snapped up, glaring at the newcomer. "Marty, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here for the class!"

"It's a parent-kid class, genius." Kayla raised an eyebrow. "So unless you brought an adult, you need to leave."

"Oh, I didn't bring a kid, but I don't need to leave." He turned to Andy, sitting in a corner with the iPad. "Hey, want to help me out, Sport?"

Kayla's jaw dropped as Andy skipped over to Deeks. "Marty, you bas—"

He stopped her, placing his hand on her arm and whispering in her ear. "There are kids present, darling. Hold it together."

"You are walking a very fine line," she spat back through gritted teeth, jerking her arm away. Forcing a smile, she turned back to the class. "Okay, so what's your favorite part about macaroni and cheese?"

A small girl in the front raised her hand. "Cheeeeeese," she giggled. The rest of the room echoed her laugh.

"Anyone else?"

"That crunchy stuff around the edge when you bake it," an older boy offered.

"Right! Well, I have asked everyone I could find their favorite part of macaroni and cheese. I mixed them all together in my brain and made about fifteen recipes. This was everyone's favorite. Andy," Kayla indicated him at the end of the counter, "is my taste tester, and he heartily agrees. I call it…the Ultimate Awesomest Spectacular Fantastic Macaroni and Cheese."

The kids' eyes widened with anticipation.

"Your recipe cards are in front of you, and the ingredients are in the cabinets and fridges over there." Kayla indicated the area. "First up, you need to boil the macaroni. Have your parents help you with the stove."

There was a shuffle for pasta and the clatter of pots. Kayla laughed to herself as Deeks plopped the silver pot on Andy's head, clanging it with a spoon. Of course, the idea spread, and soon, nearly all the kids had pots on their heads.

"Everybody!" she called, but the tin sound drowned her voice out. "Hey!"

There was no response. Deeks grinned at her, but didn't stop.

"HEY!"

The clanging stopped; Deeks and Andy looked up at her guiltily. The rest of the class froze. Kayla lifted her hands, index fingers extended.

Kayla broke out a wide smile. "All together now!"

The banging began again, with Kayla conducting the whole show. With one swoop of the arm, she closed her fists, signaling the stop. A thrill ran through her when they actually stopped on command.

Exaggerating exhaustion, she leaned over, breathing hard. "Okay! Unless you want hair in your pasta, everyone put their dirty pots in the giant sink over yonder and get fresh ones!"

Kayla spent the next half hour helping parent child couplings work through the recipe. Though she made a conscious effort to avoid Deeks, but he was surprisingly low-maintenance. Still, Kayla watched them out of the corner of her eye. He made difficult to focus; he was wonderful with Andy.

He watched the stove like a hawk, careful not to let Andy touch the burner. Marty snuck taste tests, tossed cheese in Andy's mouth, and generally messed with him in a very adorable manner. Kayla couldn't help smiling to herself.

Likewise, Marty was impressed with Kayla's talent to teach the children, handle the adults, and hold it all together. It was clear this was her passion. Her eyes glinted just like they had the moment she told him this was what she wanted. Her hair was pulled back neatly into a bun. Her blonde roots framed her face, fading into the dyed brown hair, and her face was makeup free. She was in no way conventionally beautiful; her face was undeniably plain. But her eyes lit up when she spoke to the kids or tasted their handiwork. She was sure to compliment every child, including her own. Andy was lucky to have her for his mother.

"Okay, everyone, time to put these in the oven!" she exclaimed. "About…FACE!"

The class turned, and the parents put the casserole dishes into the oven.

"Snack time!" Andy yelled.

"Cookies and milk in the lounge!" Kayla watched the exodus of children and parents running to the home-cooked goodies.

Deeks hung back, finally sidling up beside Kayla.

"So, this qualifies as respect?" she smirked.

He wasn't sure if she was mad or not. "I had to find some way to prove myself."

"I have to admit, you behaved like a grown up."

"I'm flattered," he laughed, gazing down at her. She shifted her eyes away and he changed the subject. "So this is what you do."

"Yup. I don't spend my whole day up in my apartment baking cupcakes."

"That is true; I only think of you as the cupcake baker. Forget 'mother of my son'."

Kayla hip-checked him lightly. "That and caterer of explosive events."

Deeks suppressed a chuckle. "That's classified."

"You're classified," Kayla retorted not-so-cleverly.

"Actually, I am."

"Shut up, idiot."

Andy popped his head between them, chocolate chips smeared all over his face.

"These cookies are awesome."

"You don't say…" Deeks flashed Kayla a mock-worried look. The kid's teeth were caked with chocolate.

"You don't believe me?" Andy asked, his eyebrows rising. He held up the cookie as far as he could. "Taste it."

Deeks took the cookie, smiling down at Andy. He nibbled comically at it before taking a large bite.

"Oh, my, goodness," he gasped. "This is delicious. I need milk!"

Andy jumped and bolted for the milk station, returning just as quickly with the drink.

"Thanks, Andy," Deeks laughed, bowing to retrieve the milk. Andy skipped off to talk to the other kids.

The kitchen was empty. Andy lay asleep on the lounge sofa, the parents and kids gone, and Deeks helped Kayla clear the pots and pans. They stood side by side at the sink, Deeks scrubbing and Kayla rinsing. Music played in the background, but the sound of the water drowned it out.

"You were really good with Andy tonight, Deeks."

"I had fun. You know, you're pretty good at this, too."

"It took a lot of work to get here, that's for sure, but I'm glad that it gives me the freedom to put more of the mom into working mom."

"You told me you wanted to do this at the Academy before Andy was born."

Kayla blinked, surprised he even remembered. "You're right! I think I even said that the night we…" she trailed off.

Deeks handed her a pot. "The night we slept together?"

"Yeah."

"Did you ever think about being a parent? I mean, before you knew about Andy."

He hesitated for a moment. "I wanted to be a dad so I could do everything better than my dad."

"You wanted to erase his legacy?"

"Yeah, but I had no idea when. I wanted to wait until I met the right girl."

Kayla smiled sadly.

"You know what's funny?" Deeks asked, handing her another pot.

"What?"

Back then, I began to think you were the right girl."

Blushing, Kayla met his eye. "Well then, I guess you're lucky it ended up being me."

"I did get lucky," he grinned down at her, taking her hand.

Kayla waited for his gutter mind to catch up to the 'that's what she said' moment. Give it a minute…

He murmured a laugh worthy of Barney Stintson. "Heh, lucky."

Dropping his hand, Kayla grabbed a handful of bubbles and blew them in his face. Sputtering, he regained his footing and retaliated with a splash of water. Soap and water flew. Kayla had pieces of pasta in her hair, Deeks's perfectly imperfect hair was flat and soap-spattered. The ground was slippery; Kayla knew she was going down, and grabbed Deeks to steady herself. They went down together, landing with a splat on the soaked floor.

"Truce?" Deeks asked finally.

"Truce," Kayla nodded, looking up at him. "I missed you."

Picking a piece of pasta out of her hair, he kissed the top of her head. "I missed you too."